Nebraska’s minimum wage will get a bump to start the new year.
As of Jan. 1, the state’s minimum wage will increase from $13.50 to $15 an hour as Nebraska joins 18 other states that have raised their minimum wage, according to Business Insider.
The increase, expected to impact up to 139,000 Nebraska workers, is tied to a ballot measure Nebraska voters overwhelmingly approved in 2022, but some business owners worry it could hurt their bottom lines.
In Holdrege, DeEtte Bailey, co-owner of “Gifts and Things,” said paying her high school-age workers more money will have to be made up somewhere else.
“We gift wrap complimentary here,” Bailey said. “So, I’m paying my high school girls, I’m going to be paying them $15 an hour to wrap a gift. And I’m never going to charge for gift wrapping. That’s just something that people come here for and they love it, so we have to reflect it somewhere else.”
The Economic Policy Institute of Nebraska found the $1.50 an hour increase in minimum wage to $15 an hour will amount to an average annual wage increase of $980.
State senator Jane Raybould spearheaded an effort to keep wages lower for teen workers. It stalled in the Legislature earlier this year, but is expected to be back up for discussion in the coming legislative session.